Ever After
by Marauding Mara
Summary: What happened to Mary after that devastating ending in My Everlasting Love? What did the end mean, and where did she go? You are about to find out...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is the last one-shot I'll be posting before it's time for the sequel to My Everlasting Love, at least for now. There are a few other ones I need to post later on, but I believe this last two-shot is the perfect preparation for the sequel, which is called You Only Live Twice. I hope everyone will enjoy this, and as always: silent readers are silver, but reviewers are gold! –Mara.**

**Ever After (Part One)**

When Mary took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes, she was under the impression that she had closed them only a minute earlier. But that didn't really make a lot of sense. No, when she was trying to force her fuzzy brain to wake up, it felt more like she was waking up after a particular good night of sleep. She was about to lazily stretch her arms over her head when she began to realize that she wasn't lying in bed. Instead, she seemed to be floating around in a sea; apparently in shallow water, considering she was peacefully floating towards a sandy beach. Mary frowned and lifted her head to see where in Merlin's name she had ended up now. Unable to recall _why_ she was here, it seemed the right course of action to first establish _where_ and what she was doing here.

Mary crouched in the water. It was at that moment that she noticed she wasn't wearing any clothes. She instinctively wrapped her arms around her chest and frowned at the nearby beach, now only a few feet away. It stretched out as far as the eye could see, eventually shading into low and high dunes with marram grass on top. Mary shivered in the water (even though it wasn't all that cold). Where _was_ she?

"If only I would have some robes," she thought. Almost instantly a pair of neatly folded cobalt blue dress robes appeared on the beach. If Mary had blinked she would have missed it, but now she had seen it appear out of nowhere. Right after she had been thinking about it… Was she in some kind of Room of Requirement?

Regardless, Mary knew it was time to investigate this beach, what she was doing here, and how she could find her way back home. She knew she had come to this place for a reason, but was unable put the pieces of the puzzle together. It felt like someone took a big chunk out of her memory so that a few crucial bits of information had gone missing. She slowly got up and walked the beach, picked up the robes (it reminded her of the silky-looking dresses the women of ancient Greece and Rome used to wear) and put it on. The dress fit her like it was a second skin, but Mary wasn't all too surprised about that. If this really was a room of requirement, it would have made no sense if it _didn't_ fit.

But what an odd room of requirement this was. Mary turned around as she was slowly scanning her surroundings. She squinted when her eyes fell on… was that the roof terrace of the house where Sirius proposed? It sure looked like it. Mary smiled despite herself when she found herself standing on the roof only a moment later and automatically dropped her gaze to her hand, only to establish that her engagement ring wasn't there. She frowned. "What the…?"

She would _never_ take that ring off on her own accord. Something must have happened to her. Something bad. Mary furrowed her brow in concentration as she forced her brain to think back. After a few vainly attempts she could finally recall some horrible images: a stormy Halloween, Sirius leaving on his bike, the hateful face of Bellatrix Lestrange, a guilty-looking Peter, Alison Zabini roughly forcing her down to the floor, a devastated Remus holding her hand, Bellatrix pointing her wand at a cot…

"Erin!"

Mary had called the last word aloud. Her voice echoed over the empty and peaceful roof terrace, but she wasn't feeling all that calm anymore. She had to find her daughter. Something was wrong, and although she didn't know what was going on, she did know she would feel better once she had found Erin. She blindly started to walk around the terrace, occasionally lifting flowerpots and moving plants back and forth, anything to find some kind of trail which would lead to her little girl.

Mary had only just lifted another flowerpot when she got the feeling that she was being watched. Crossing her fingers that Sirius had come looking for her and not some Death Eater, she turned to shoot the person a hopeful look. It wasn't Sirius. It wasn't even a man. The girl sitting on the edge at the other end of the terrace next to the fire escape had blonde hair, and although the girl was watching her curiously, Mary could – even from this distance – spot a certain sadness in her eyes. She didn't say anything, though, and after another uncomfortable moment of silence, Mary was forced to ask: "Can you help me?"

The girl, still eyeing her curiously, didn't reply immediately. "With what?" she asked eventually.

Mary frowned. That voice sounded strangely familiar. Surely that couldn't be… No, that was impossible. Dismissing the ridiculous thought from her mind, she said: "My daughter. A baby girl. She has to be around here somewhere. Can you help me find her?"

"You lost your child?"

Mary flushed. "No. Well, yes… But it's not what you think!"

"One would call that irresponsible."

"I only just woke up! I have no idea where I am…" Mary ran a nervous hand through her tangled wet hair. "I… I don't know what to do or where to go, but what I _do_ know is that I have to find my baby girl."

"Erin's not here."

"I know that or I would have found her on my o-" She fell silent mid-sentence. "How do you know her name?"

The girl twisted a lock of her hair around her finger. "Didn't you tell me?"

"No."

The girl rubbed her nose. "Oh." She jumped off the edge and started walking towards a perplexed Mary. The way she walked, like her voice, seemed so familiar. With every step she took, her figure became more detailed, but it took another minute before Mary could finally see she had been right all along. "Brice!"

The girl smiled at her. "I knew you would catch on eventually. Hello Mary."

Mary walked towards her, positively aching to give her long lost friend a hug, but seemed to walk into an invisible barrier she could not cross. "What is this?"

"It's a barrier."

"I can feel that! Why is it here?"

"Because you still have to come to terms with your fate."

Mary stared at her in confusion, but realization eventually dawned on her. She could see (not even mention talk) to her friend, and she had been dead for quite some time. Therefore, she also had to be… "Brice…"

"Yes, Mary?"

"Am I dead?"

Brice shot her a look. "The fact that you're here and talking to me is a clear sign that you have, indeed, passed on. You can see me, right?"

"Yes."

She nodded grimly. "Then yeah, you moved on. To this place, that is. You're not exactly _there_ yet."

Mary frowned, looking confused. "Where?"

"Hereafter, ever after, the next world, the great beyond. Whichever you prefer."

"So when will I get there?"

"As soon as you're at peace with what happened to you."

"Hmmm…" Mary said thoughtfully. "Is Erin there?"

"Yes, she's with Lily and Marlene."

"Okay, then I'm good to go." She nodded briskly and took a determined step to the barrier when Brice help up her hand. "What?"

"You don't know the entire story. It's… Look, I…" Brice signed and, not the for the first time, Mary saw a sincere sadness in her friend's amber eyes. "It's Sirius."

Mary closed her eyes. For a moment she had completely forgotten about the most important person in her life. "Oh God… He must be devastated that Erin and I passed away."

"Yes… He's devastated. Among other things…" Brice shot her a close look. "How much _do_ you remember about what happened?"

Mary put her face in her hands. "Not much. Just some vague images of Bellatrix Lestrange, Peter, Remus. Something was wrong with Peter, I think. Did he get attacked too? I just don't know. My memory is all hazy."

"It will come back to you eventually."

She shot her friend a pleading look. "Well, until then, could you please give me a quick recap?"

"Sirius wasn't the Secret-Keeper. Peter switched places with him at the last moment. They, like James and Lily, thought it was the ultimate bluff and a way to keep you and Erin safe at the same time. It would have been, if it weren't for the fact that Peter was the traitor of the Order."

Mary gasped. "Oh yes, now I remember! Peter was there. He assisted the Lestranges on their mission to murder all the Order-babies and their parents in an attempt to revive Voldemort."

Brice nodded. "Exactly."

"But why does that have anything to do with Sirius?"

"No one else knows the truth, Mary. Our entire world thinks _he_ betrayed the Potters."

Mary frowned. Something about that didn't make sense. She massaged her temples in order to remember something else, something important… "That's not true!" she exclaimed triumphantly when she finally remembered how and where she died. "_I_ knew. Bellatrix's curse didn't kill me instantly, I was taken to St. Mungo's. Remus took me to St. Mungo's! I told him before I died, Brice. He knows!"

Her friend shot her an uneasy look. "No, he doesn't, Mary. He thought you were rambling because of the drugs and the shock you were in. He didn't realize you were telling the truth."

Mary stared at her friend, fists clenched at her side. "B-But he told me he would help... help Sirius." She swallowed with difficulty. "He lied to me," she whispered, feeling a tear slide down her cheek.

There was a flicker of annoyance in Brice's eyes. "You were talking nonsense, Mary! No one, not even Dumbledore, could have figured out what your incoherent babbling meant. And even if they did, who would believe it? Don't you dare call Remus a liar! He's suffering enough as it is."

"I didn't mean it like that. I just thought I found a way to save Sirius." She tiredly rubbed her eyes. "Speaking of that, where is he?"

Brice hesitated. "I… I'm not sure if I'm the right person to tell you."

"What do you mean? This only just happened, so I assume he's been taken into custody by the Ministry?"

"This didn't just happen," Brice said uncomfortably after another pause.

"What do you mean?"

"It's Spring. You died over six months ago."

Mary stared at her friend in shock. She suddenly felt like she was about to faint. Ignoring the rapidly multiplying dancing spots in front of her eyes, she flipped an empty flowerpot upside down and sat on it. She dropped her head between her knees and had to take some deep breaths before she managed to calm down. "Six months?" she asked, feeling bemused. "But how is that possible? It feels like I fell asleep a few hours ago."

"It takes every soul a different amount of time to get here," Brice explained. "Depending on how they die, how it makes them feel, if they're able to reconcile with their fate. Lily passed on rather quickly, whereas it took James over three months."

"Bloody hell, but _six_ months? For Merlin's sake!"

Brice smiled sadly. "If it makes you feel any better, it took me about eight months before I was able to leave my haunting dreams of never-ending caves behind and move on."

"But wait, didn't Remus carry you outside?"

"That was just my body, not my soul. Look, you also need to know that time passes in a different way up here, so stop feeling bad about yourself, alright?"

"I'll try."

"You better. You have a tendency to feel guilty over things that aren't your fault."

She shot her a significant look and Mary felt her cheeks reddening fast. "Do you know I blamed myself for your death?"

Brice nodded grimly. "It was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard. Well, once I got here, of course. I didn't know it at the time. Gideon and Fabian had to fill me in on that one."

"Fabian and Gideon?" Mary asked. "They're here too?"

"Of course they are. They were my… ah, welcoming committee, if you will."

"Right. So how did it go?"

"They tried to make clear that this is not the end of the world and that it's far lovelier on the other side. Regular big parties with a never-ending stash of Butterbeer, unearthly beautiful people, you know the drill." Brice waved a dismissive hand before arching an eyebrow. "Come to think of it: they made it seem that being dead is like… The coolest thing ever."

Mary giggled and Brice grinned as she rolled her eyes. "They were right to some degree, though. It's not a punishment at all to be up there."

"So how did Fabian and Gideon feel about how I felt after you… passed on?"

"Gideon understood what you were going through to a certain extent, Fabian was mostly annoyed about it. And I agreed with him. How you worked out that what happened on Esha Ness was your fault is beyond me."

Mary sighed. "Looking back, I don't understand what I was thinking either. Remus and Sirius had to knock some sense in to me."

Brice sighed and fiddled with the hem of her sleeve for a moment. "Merlin, I miss Remus so much."

Mary got up from her seat and looked at Brice. "He missed you too. Still does. He just seems to be incomplete without you, you know. I suppose he'll always be that way," she said sadly.

Her friend suddenly smiled mysteriously and Mary lifted an eyebrow. "You know something I don't."

"You bet I do," she grinned. "I just happen to know that Remus will find happiness again at some point in his life. With a girl who can change her hair color at will."

"A Metamorphmagus?"

"Yeah."

"And you're cool with that? Him being with another woman, I mean?"

Brice arched her eyebrows. "You wouldn't want that for Sirius to happen?"

The honest answer to that question was: no. Mary would find it extremely hard (if not impossible) to ever picture Sirius with someone else but her. That was, if he ever got out of prison. She shrugged moodily and decided to drastically change the subject. "That's not really the point now, is it? Where is Sirius? I want to see him."

Brice shot her a concerned look. "Don't you think it would be better to wait with that until you feel stronger? He won't know you're there anyway."

She looked at her and noticed her friend was avoiding her gaze. "Brice," she demanded. "Where is he?"

"Azkaban."

Mary's stomach plummeted with force and she flopped back down on the flowerpot in shock. "No, no, no," she stammered, still looking perplexed, but already feeling the panic rise up in her throat fast. She noticed she had started to hyperventilate. "No, no… But he didn't betray any of us, he was just trying to protect me… he's innocent!"

"You know that and we know that. He probably still knows it too, but no one else does."

"Peter knows."

"Yes well, but if we have to wait until that rat goes all noble…"

Despite everything, Mary snorted. "Touché."

They sat in silence for a long time. It was Brice who finally broke it. "So… Ready to go?"

Mary turned and frowned at her. "I thought you said it wasn't possible…"

"You now know the whole story and are still at peace. Therefore, your soul can cross the border."

She huffed. "It doesn't feel like I'm at peace."

Brice sighed, and Mary knew her well enough to know she was starting to lose her patience. "Do you want to visit Sirius or not?"

"Yes!"

"You can only do that if your soul is one, and that's only possible when you're on my side of the ah... In your case, shall we shall pond?"

Mary nodded slowly and got up once more. She shot Brice a look, who held out her hand. "I'm ready," she said solemnly before taking her friend's hand and stepping towards her.

"Welcome home," Brice said and they hugged close for a moment.

"Did I have to touch you to cross over?"

Brice shook her head, laughing. "Nah, you just had to feel it, but I thought you could use a hand."

Mary let go and looked around. The beach had morphed into a flowery field. She shot a look over her shoulder. "How do I reach Sirius?"

"Are you sure that's what you want to do right now? Don't you want to see Erin?"

Mary shot a longing look ahead, feeling a strong urge to hold her daughter in her arms, when her thoughts turned back to Sirius. "She'll be safe with Lily," she said. "How do I do this?"

"It's like Apparating. Close your eyes and think about his current whereabouts and that you want to find him. You'll fade away here and appear there. Just remember, Mary: he won't know you're there and you cannot stay down there forever."

"How long-"

"-It's different every time."

Mary nodded grimly, stepped back and closed her eyes. She thought strongly of Azkaban and that an innocent Sirius was locked up in there. All by himself, surrounded by several convicted Death Eaters and Dementors. He needed her more now than ever before, and although she wasn't exactly sure how she – being dead and all – could make any difference, she was more than determined to help him in every way she thought possible.

**-End of Part One-**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ever After (Part Two)**

When the surreal feeling of floating through a thick fog was slowly diminishing, Mary instantly realized she had arrived in Azkaban. She didn't even need to open her eyes to know this. The sense of constant fear and despair was more than tangible; every breath emphasized that this was a horrible place no man would ever be able to escape alive. She apprehensively opened her eyes after another moment and looking at the entrance hall of Azkaban did not make her feel much better.

The room seemed to have been drained from life. Literally, there was not a living soul around. No humans, not even vegetation; the only breathing creatures were two Dementors guarding the entrance to the cells. Mary had no trouble passing those beings. They didn't even notice her, which made sense considering she was already dead, so there were no memories they could suck out of her. Mary walked (or was she gliding? She couldn't tell for sure) through an elongated corridor and passed several cells. Every time she dared to shoot a glance inside she was feeling more depressed.

The people inside were there psychically, but most of them were just staring ahead into nothingness; their eyes glazed over, as if they were almost peacefully awaiting the moment they finally would stop breathing and die; anything would be better than this godforsaken place. Others had slumped down on the ground and were drooling severely and then there were some (Erin's killer Bellatrix Lestrange among them) who paced up and down their cells while continuously muttering about the return of the Dark Lord. Mary had no idea where she could find Sirius, but something was telling her that he wasn't far away. And indeed, at the very end of the corridor, right next to an old and dazed-looking wizard who was loudly singing the national anthem, she paused in front of a large windowless cell.

Mary immediately understood why people used to say that a long sentence in Azkaban was worse than death. Sirius's cell was guarded by two Dementors. There were no windows in his cell, no way to contact or even see the outer world. The one thing that came close to a window was a narrow air hole all the way near the ceiling, shading a small beam of daylight on the cold stone floor. The cell wasn't watertight. There was a leak near the left corner. Water was dripping from it slowly; every drop that hit the floor sounded like a pile getting slammed into the ground. And there was no furniture in the room either, not a sink, toilet or bed. All there could be found that wasn't made from stone was a mass of wet straw in the right corner. Mary assumed that prisoners were supposed to sleep on that. If they ever managed to get some rest, which would be a real feat with all those Dementors around.

Mary's eyes finally fell on Sirius, who was sitting against the wall at the end of the cell, apparently determined to stay away from the Dementors as far as possible. She sighed and leaned her head against the bars, but noticed she was falling right through them. She paused in the middle of the cell and looked back over her shoulder, feeling a little bemused. The feeling while passing those bars reminded her of walking into one of the ghosts at Hogwarts. She slowly walked forward and felt Sirius's eyes on her all the time, as if he knew she was here.

But this briefest shred of hope diminished when she was coming closer. Sirius hadn't been looking at her; he was just staring ahead without actually seeing anything, just like the other prisoners. He wasn't looking all that dazed, though. Instead, he was sitting up straight with his back against the wall and his knees pulled up. There was a fierce glare in his grey eyes that seemed to be consuming him from within. Mary crouched down beside him and looked down at his hands. They were continuously twirling a certain object around in his fingers. With a shock she realized it was her engagement ring. "He must have gotten hold of it somehow," Mary thought, wondering if he had been allowed to attend her and Erin's funeral.

The sight of Sirius staring ahead with that fierce gleam in his clear grey eyes was hypnotizing Mary and she kept staring at him for a long time, absorbing as much of his features into her memory as possible. She had no idea when she would see him again and she wanted to remember, cherish even, every second of it. Mary noticed Sirius had lost a lot of weight in the last few months and that he looked significantly less handsome than while she was alive. But this didn't matter to her. She was grateful for the fact that she could be with him like this, even though he didn't seem to know she was there. Mary could feel the warmth of his body, even inhale the scent of his skin… Before she really realized what she was doing, she had lifted her hand to stroke his forehead.

Big mistake. The second Mary's hand touched Sirius's skin, he jerked up his head and backed away. He looked wildly around the cell, panting heavily, as if he was determined to find out what was going on and locate the person who had touched him. When his search appeared to be unsuccessful, he slumped back down against his wall and muttered: "Great, just bloody fantastic. Now I've started to hallucinate that people are touching me. Swell. I guess I'm really going insane."

"You're not going insane," Mary said quietly. She had gotten back to her feet the moment he had backed away from her. "It's me, Sirius. It's just… me."

She had whispered the last part, but of course Sirius didn't hear anything. He had just picked up her ring and started to twirl it around once more. Back and forth, back and forth. Mary slowly approached him, although she would think twice before trying to touch him again. She tried to decipher his fierce glare and was shocked when she realized he was being consumed by hate, rage and something else… Guilt. It had to be guilt. Mary shot him an empathetic look. He was punishing himself for things he wasn't responsible for, just like she had done after Brice died. "Sirius," she whispered again. "Sweetie, it's not your fault. I don't blame you for what happened. I'm not angry, I just wish I would know how to help you, that I could-"

"Urrrrrgh, just leave me alone," Sirius suddenly groaned.

Mary stared at him in shock. "Can you hear me?"

He didn't answer and buried his head between his arms as a reply. Mary looked over her shoulder and it was at that moment that she realized Sirius had not been talking to or even about her. One of the Dementors was gliding inside and put down a bowl of a disgusting-looking grey pulp and a goblet of brownish water. It seemed to pause for a moment as it stared at Sirius, its rattling breath like a poisonous predator checking the state of its prey, and he flinched even more. "No," he moaned, clenching the ring in his fist and Mary knew it must be burning into his palm. "No, please…"

Mary got up straight and faced the Dementor head on. It wouldn't affect her anyway and perhaps she could think of something to make it to go away. When she was standing between the creature and Sirius, she noticed from the corner of her eye that he was relaxing slightly. Apparently she was acting like some kind of shield that the Dementor could not break through. After another moment it decided to give up for now and turned back to leave the cell. Mary immediately went back to a now trembling Sirius and sat down in front of him with crossed legs, thinking of a way to calm him down, when-

"He's getting worse."

Mary looked up. James was standing a few feet behind them with his hands in his pockets, frowning as he looked at Sirius. "James!" she exclaimed and jumped right into his arms. For a minute or so, she merely cried and her friend comforted without saying a word. He just merely patting her back until her breathing had steadied somewhat. "I cannot believe this is where we ended up," she said, rubbing her eyes.

"What, dead?"

"Yes, that too. But Sirius, I just…"

"Yeah," James sighed. "It's not what any of us had expected, I give you that."

"Have you visited him before?"

He nodded grimly. "I've come down here repeatedly over the last three months. But I also still have a son to watch over, you know."

"God, Harry…" Mary said after a pause. "What happened… I mean, how is he?"

James shot her a look and Mary noticed that Brice's description of peaceful souls didn't exactly turn out to be correct when the subject was Harry. "Alright considering the circumstances. Dumbledore forced Petunia and that short-sighted oaf of a Vernon Dursley to take care of him."

Mary shot him an uneasy look. "James, I'm sure Albus had his reasons-"

"Yeah, yeah," he replied while waving his hand around in an impatient manner before looking up at her. He smiled sadly. "Do you know that Lily said the exact same thing?"

She shrugged. "I just don't believe that Albus would voluntarily drop Harry at Petunia's for no good reason when there are many wizarding families who would have been honored to raise him as their own son."

James sighed and shot another look at Sirius who was just curling up like a hedgehog on the cold stone floor. "Yeah well, like I was saying… I've been here several times ever since I crossed over."

"And do you think that helps him?"

He cocked his head over at the Dementors. "I saw that you already figured out that we, eh… dead souls, can act like a shield between Dementors and humans? Like a voluntary Patronus, I mean."

Mary nodded. "Yeah, exactly. I was thinking… Maybe we should rally Lily, Brice and the others. Make a schedule or something, so that there is always someone in his cell to protect him."

James looked doubtful. "I don't know, Mary. Our time on earth is limited and there are not nearly enough of us to protect Sirius all the time and aside from that… Well, just look at him. He's getting worse fast. I don't think it'll take all that long before he gives up and joins us."

She stared at him. "No!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You don't want Sirius to join you?"

"Of course I do," Mary replied, rolling her eyes impatiently. "Eventually that is, but not now! He's the only one who knows what _really_ happened that night on Halloween. Besides Peter, of course."

James was just positioning himself between Sirius and another Dementor that was passing his cell on its round. His hazel eyes flickered dangerously. "Don't get me started on that rat!"

"Do you know where he is?"

He grinded his teeth and nodded darkly. "You can say that again. I've tried haunting him while I was still between worlds, but the coward has, for now, permanently transfigured into a rat. Unfortunately animals cannot perceive human ghosts, so I had to give up the chase for now. But if he ever changes back…"

He raised a threatening fist and Mary, who was vividly imagining ghost-James chasing a terrified-looking Peter, couldn't help but snort. "Sorry," she said quickly when he shot her an odd look. "Look, I really want to help Sirius."

James still looked unconvinced and Mary walked over to reach for his hand. "For Merlin's sake, James. This is your best friend and needs your help now more than ever. We _have_ to help him."

He closed his eyes and sighed. "I would if I could, Mary. If you have some kind of genius idea, I'm all ears, but for now I just don't see how..."

She bit her lip. "I don't. Not yet, at least. But-"

Mary paused when she suddenly felt a strong urge to leave Azkaban and head back home. She didn't want to, on the contrary, but the longing appeared to be stronger than her will. She shot a desperate look at James who seemed to understand what was going on. "You're already fading," he said reassuringly. "Let it go, Mary. You can come back later."

She nodded and shot a last look at Sirius, who seemed to have fallen in a restless sleep. "I'll be back," she said softly and blew a kiss in his direction, more than aware that it would never reach him.

* * *

Mary materialized in that strange-looking flowery field only moments later. Unable to rest she immediately started to look for a way to help Sirius survive Azkaban. But this was a lot easier said than done. There was no library in the after-life as far as she could tell and the old granny watering her plants next to the river wasn't all that helpful either. She merely shook her head and told Mary to reconcile with her fate and that of her loved ones before disappearing in a whiff of clouds.

But that happened to be something that Mary just could not do. She may have accepted her own untimely death, but that didn't mean she was going to let the same thing happen to Sirius. Not if she could help it. One day – Mary had no idea what month it was: for all she knew it could be late August or even November – she was aimlessly walking around along a long winded road when she suddenly heard someone call her name and turned around to see who it was. "Fabian."

"Hiya," the ginger-haired man said cheerfully as he stepped up next to her. "Whatcha doing?"

"Thinking."

"Ah, I see. Does that hurt?"

"Ha-ha, you're such a funny man, Prewett."

Fabian grinned. "Nah seriously, what's on your mind?"

"Sirius."

He shot her a mock-wounded look. "And I was thinking I could finally have you all to myself, but even here there seems to be only man on your mind."

Mary couldn't help but smile. "I suppose so. Or maybe it just bugs me that I still haven't found a way to help him."

He nodded. "To survive Azkaban. Well, if it's any consolation, he's already lasting a lot longer than most prisoners and that's a great achievement."

She shrugged. "Yes, but those Dementors will get to him eventually. Unless… You don't happen to know a way to block those out, do you?"

Fabian thought for a moment. "No, nothing that can be achieved without a wand. Unless Sirius knows how to change into an animal..."

Mary's jaw dropped. "What!?"

"Animals are practically immune to the powers of Dementors because their thoughts are much less complex, which means-"

He got cut off because Mary had jumped into his arms and kissed him on the cheek. "What the…" he stammered, looking gob smacked.

"That's it!"

"What? You mean that Sirius is an Animagus?"

Mary nodded, grinning. "Just like James, and Peter."

Fabian scratched his chin. "Well, have I ever…"

But Mary didn't have any time to lose. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cried gratefully as she turned around and started to run.

"Where are you going?" Fabian called after her.

"To find James!"

* * *

She and James went back to Azkaban as soon as she had found him. He reacted just as excited as she was, especially since he had thought of a solution for a rather big problem: they were going to show an animal to Sirius in an attempt to remind him of his ability to transform into a dog, but there weren't any animals on the island. Mary had no idea how to solve that problem, but James told her passed souls are able to make contact with some animals, including birds. All they had to do was convincing one bird to fly to the tower of Azkaban and land in Sirius's cell. But Azkaban was situated a long way from the main land and most of the birds that followed them at first pulled out eventually. One by one they seemed to feel that the journey to Azkaban was a little too long for their liking.

But thankfully two birds, a magpie and a beautiful nightingale, followed them all the way to the barren surroundings of Azkaban. It was another challenge to tempt the birds to fly to the top of the tower and then another feat to make them go inside Sirius's cell. The magpie retreated at the last moment, along with James who had run out of time for this visit on earth. But Mary – and she wanted to thank Merlin on her bare knees for it – succeeded in persuading the nightingale to follow her inside.

Sirius was in the exact same position as the last time she had seen him. Sitting against the back of the wall, knees pulled up and that scary possessed expression in his eyes. This all changed when the nightingale fluttered inside and landed in front of his feet. Sirius blinked feverishly at first, as if he could not believe his eyes. Mary couldn't help but smile when the nightingale started to sing the most beautiful song; an almost unearthly peaceful sound that seemed to be unctuous for everyone nearby. Mary made sure she was positioning herself right in front the bars, just in case one of the Dementors would come to find out what all the fuss was about.

In the meantime Sirius had lowered his hand to touch the nightingale. He seemed to be determined to establish that his eyes were not deceiving him, that there was an actual bird sitting in front of him. Mary feared that the nightingale would fly off, but she telepathically tried to emphasize that Sirius wasn't going to hurt it and instead, the bird jumped on top of Sirius's hand. And for the first time ever since she and Erin had died, Mary saw a sincere smile break through that obstinate mask of hate and despair. "Hi," he whispered hoarsely.

The nightingale whistled calmly as a reply and Mary approached them slowly. She knew her time on earth was almost up and that she had to follow James. And as much as it killed her, she _had_ to see if their plan had worked before she could leave. So she asked the bird to leave with pain in her heart. It answered her call immediately, flew up and – after circling the cell a couple of times – disappeared through the narrow air hole. Mary looked down after another moment and silently urged Sirius to remember what the bird had just shown him: that animals were less affected by Dementors. "Come on," she pleaded. "You know this. Just remember."

Sirius was still staring at the air hole where the nightingale had disappeared. Then suddenly, when Mary could feel the rattling breath of one of the Dementors behind them, he sat up straight. He shot another look at the hole before looking down from his own hands to the Dementor and back. And then, finally, he crawled to his feet and transformed into the tall scruffy dog in front of Mary's eyes, who smiled. She resisted the strong temptation to pat the dog's head before she gave in to her own urge and disappeared.

"And did it work?" James asked, practically jumping on top of her as soon as she materialized in the field.

Mary nodded, smiling. "It did! Sirius understood and has just transformed into Padfoot. Oh James, you should have seen it. It was like the nightingale was bringing him back to life."

"That's fantastic!" James called and he hugged her a little more tightly.

Their arms were still wrapped around each other's shoulders when they located the others. Mary was suddenly aware of another longing she had managed to ignore for too long: to hold her daughter in her arms. She immediately headed over to Lily, who - beautiful as ever with her dark red hair and twinkling green eyes – smiled and gave her a close hug. "Thank goodness you're here. There's someone who's been aching to see you," she said serenely.

Her best friend was still holding Erin in her arms, who was impatiently stretching her little arms into Mary's direction. Lily smiled and carefully handed her goddaughter over. Mary overloaded Erin's face with little kisses. "Oh sweetie, mummy missed you so much."

Erin crowed happily and put her tiny hand against her mother's cheek. "I'm glad you're feeling alright," Mary whispered.

"How is her father doing?" Lily asked softly while stroking Erin's head.

Mary thought of Sirius and Azkaban. Sure, he was still locked up in that horrible place, even though he was innocent and being punished for a crime he did not commit. Not to mention that she was going to miss him more than words could ever express for the rest of his life, but at least his situation was no longer completely hopeless. Sirius knew he could protect himself from the Dementors by turning into a dog. If that prevented him from going insane, he was going to use that trick as often as he had to, Mary was sure of that. For the one and only reason that some day people were going to learn the truth about what happened to her, Erin, Lily and James after all. Because Sirius Black may be many things, but he would never give up on things that really mattered. "Better," she said, smiling at Lily. "Much better."

- The End –

**A/N: Love it? Hate it? ****Let me know, reviews mean the world to any aspiring writer! -Mara**


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